E4M1: Catafalque (Heretic + Hexen)
From DoomWiki.org
| Heretic re-release maps |
|---|
| The City of the Damned |
| Hell's Maw |
| The Dome of D'Sparil |
| The Stagnant Demesne |
| Fate's Path (deathmatch only levels) |
| This level has an original version |
E4M1: Catafalque is the first map of episode The Ossuary in the enhanced Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders re-release, included with Heretic + Hexen. It uses the music track "Mist" by Kevin Schilder.
Contents
Walkthrough[edit]
_E4M1_map.png)
Essentials[edit]
You begin in an M-shaped room with gargoyles on either side, who are guarding a silver shield and a Tome of Power. Go straight forward (north) into a room with an ethereal crossbow, which is placed under a crusher, then press the switch in the south-east corner to lower a wall outside. Go through the west doorway and collect the Bag of Holding, drop into the pit of sabreclaws below then go past a gray tower to the south-west corner of the pit to find the yellow key on some rocks. Go back across the blood river to the north-east corner of the pit, where a teleporter guarded by a fire gargoyle has opened, then enter the teleporter to go inside the gray tower and face an iron lich (or maulotaur on smite-meister skill level or higher). Press any of the carvings of hooded figures to open all of them, allowing the ophidians outside the tower to come inside, then step through any of the carvings to open a teleporter leading back to where you found the Bag of Holding—note that the enemies inside the tower can enter the teleporter to pursue you.
Open the yellow door on the east side of the crusher room to see a dragon claw being guarded by gargoyles and sabreclaws, then open the stone door at the bottom of the steps to see two more gargoyles in front of a green door. Press the switch on the south wall then go back to the previous room to see that two walls have opened on the north and south sides. At this point you have a choice of paths:
- Go through the north wall to face two or three disciples of D'Sparil, then go round to the east side of the room to find a mystic urn opposite a switch. Press the switch to lower the floor that the urn was sitting on, then drop down there to find a passage with Time Bombs of the Ancients which leads back to the green door room.
- Go through the south wall to drop into a pit with some sabreclaws, then press the switch in the north-west corner to raise a set of steps up to a second switch. Press the second switch to raise more steps, then press a third switch at the top to raise steps up to the Gauntlets of the Necromancer. Taking the Gauntlets will lower the surrounding walls to reveal gargoyles, along with one more switch that will raise steps leading back up to the room entrance.
Taking either path will open a switch in the north-east corner of the dragon claw room. Press it to open a teleporter on the other side, which leads to a dark cavern with ophidians, then go to the skull lift at the east end of the cavern to lower it and get a phoenix rod. Ride the lift up to drop down to the green key, then go back into the crusher room where the cross-shaped columns have lowered to reveal four sabreclaws (or ophidians on bringest them oneth (BTO) or higher). Go back to the green door and open it to see a hall with a hellstaff, which is guarded by gargoyles, then open the hooded figure carving in the middle alcove on the south side to find a switch that will open the door to the final room, revealing an iron lich. In the middle of the room is a pit containing more liches—step over the red wall bordering the pit to raise it and open a switch on the south side of the room, then press this switch followed by two more switches on the north and east sides to open the exit teleporter in the middle of the pit.
Other points of interest[edit]
The south-eastern chamber in the hellstaff hall contains a map scroll.
Secrets[edit]
- Taking the Gauntlets will open a closet behind you containing disciples. Open the skull wall in the back of this closet to open a second closet to your right with a shadowsphere and crystal vials, as well as a passage leading to greater runes which is the secret. (sector 137)
- In the dark cavern, open the bloodstained wall between the hanging skulls on the south side to reveal a teleporter, which goes to a ledge overlooking the gray tower with an inferno orb, an energy orb, Wings of Wrath, and a Chaos Device. (sector 10)
- After opening the carvings in the hellstaff hall, go through the north-eastern carving to find a Ring of Invincibility on a teleporter, which goes to the north-west ledge overlooking the final room. Go through the teleporters to kill the ophidians on each ledge, and get some crystal vials, claw orbs, and ethereal arrows. (sector 199)
Bugs[edit]
The following issues were inherited from the original level:
- A sabreclaw guarding the southern switch in the final room (thing 396) is only flagged to appear in multiplayer. Since the equivalent monsters in the northern and eastern rooms lack the flag, it was probably added by accident.
- An upper texture just to the west of the green door (sidedef 1119) is missing.
Demo files[edit]
Comparison of versions[edit]
Room design[edit]
- Some additional sectors were added to create more realistic lighting.
- The ceiling of the room behind the yellow door (sector 99) was raised by eight map units to fix a number of missing upper textures.
- A switch was added to the closet behind the Gauntlets which raises steps back up to the room entrance. In the original level, stepping off the platform with the Gauntlets activated a lift which went up to the room entrance; this was not obvious to the player.
- The ceiling of the dark cavern was moved to fix some missing upper textures around the green key lift.
Texture changes[edit]
- Most wall textures in the level were replaced, using textures not seen in the original release of Heretic.
- Staircases throughout the level were changed to wood floors.
- The river and dark cavern were changed from water floors to blood.
- The closet behind the Gauntlets and the pit in the final room were changed to blood floors.
Thing placement[edit]
- The wall torches behind the starting point were changed to serpent torches.
- The Tome of Power in the starting room appears on all skill levels, rather than just BTO or lower.
- The maulotaur in the tower now only appears on smite-meister or higher. It has been moved inside the tower, meaning it will no longer get stuck in the surrounding pit.
- Stalagmites and hanging skulls were added in the outdoor area.
- The dragon claw on the green key lift was changed to a phoenix rod. The original weapon was moved to the room behind the yellow door.
- The inferno orb and Wings of Wrath in secret #2 were changed to single-player items.
- Comparison of maps
E4M1 (original)
E4M1 (Heretic + Hexen)
Areas / screenshots[edit]
Speedrunning[edit]
Routes and tricks[edit]
Current records[edit]
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:
| Run | Time | Player | Date | File | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SM speed | |||||
| SM max | |||||
| BP speed | |||||
| BP max | |||||
| NM speed | |||||
| NM 100S | |||||
| Tyson | |||||
| Pacifist |
The (absence of) data was last verified in its entirety on August 10, 2025.
Deathmatch[edit]
Player spawns[edit]
This level contains four spawn points:
- facing west. (thing 104)
- facing north. (thing 105)
- facing north-east. (thing 106)
- facing north. (thing 107)
Statistics[edit]
Map data[edit]
| Things | 472 |
| Vertices | 1637* |
| Linedefs | 1861 |
| Sidedefs | 2693 |
| Sectors | 341 |
* The vertex count without the effect of node building is 1489.
Things[edit]
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level:
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Technical information[edit]
Inspiration and development[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- A catafalque is a raised platform used to support the casket, coffin, or body of the deceased during a funeral. It is possible the catafalque in question belongs to D'Sparil, considering he was killed by the player in the previous episode.
